The View at Chastain (Atlanta, Roswell: apartments, HOA fees, loft)

[kranjan]

Once again asking for your feedback. Now it is between the View at Chastain and Spire. One can get around 1680 sq ft, 9th floor condo for $340k at View at Chastain (3820 Roswell Road NE) or 1200 sq ft, 26th floor condo at Spire with decent view.

Both seems to have a very good school district. For some reason the HOA fees seems to be higher for the Chastain park condo.

Does anyone has any inputs for the Chastain park neighborhood? How safe is this area? How much will be the normal commute to Georgia Tech?

Anything to worry about this complex?

[ATLTJL]

I know someone who lived there for years. She only sold her condo earlier this year because of what I've said on this board multiple times....she decided she wanted more space and a little yard to let her dog out on, so she bought a 3 bedroom townhome. Not because she got married, not because she had kids....because she grew up and needed more than a 1-bedroom.

Ok, off soap box....To answer your questions, View at Chastain is a fine property. Just a few years ago you could get a 1-bedroom for under $100k, I'm shocked it has recovered that much. $340k seems high, but maybe that's what the market did. If it's in Sarah Smith elementary, you can't do better. Sutton Middle and North Atlanta High....I don't know, but school district should not be a problem there.

Safety...fine, probably about the safest intown area you're going to find.

I'm not sure how the commute would be. The biggest issue with this complex is it doesn't have direct access to a good artery into town. I'm not sure what you'd do....I guess take Wieuca over to 400, so it depends how bad that road gets during rush hour, or actually, I think you can take Piedmont over to 400. I don't really know. But you would definitely not take Peachtree into town.

The issues with this complex I can think of are:

- It's not walkable. Well, it is, but you'll be walking to strip centers. This is an extremely car-centric area. Nobody walks.

- The condos (at least hers) have that "loft" kind of feel. Nice high ceilings, but she always complained about how loud the HVAC was with the exposed ductwork. It was very loud. She also said quite expensive to cool.

- Parking for guests is EXTREMELY limited. I always hated looking for a spot when visiting her. There are a few visitor spots, but they are rarely available. Neighboring lots say they tow, but I always figured out some makeshift parking arrangement and never tested it.

My personal $0.02 is this. Why would you buy in a high rise in a pseudo suburban area? If you want high rise living, you want midtown. That's walkable, there are other high rises, it's dense. If you want Buckhead, you want a single family home or townhouse. The high rises Buckhead has are really concentrated along Peachtree, the View at Chastain is sort of all alone among strip centers and garden style apartments. So the benefits of high rise living are kind of non-existent there, unless you just love being in a building.

I'd pay $340k to live in that building.....never.

But I gave you the reasons why, so you can decide if they apply to you or not.

[kranjan]

Once again, thank you very much for your in-depth analysis. So, the condo I am looking there is a 2 bedroom loft type of unit which is about 1680 sq ft in size. Its on the ninth floor.

3820 Roswell RD NE Unit: 903, Atlanta, GA 30342 - MLS/Listing # 5282186

I think you gave me ample reasons to stick with my choices near mid-town area.

[ATL Golfer]

I would merge this in with your other thread. The View at Chastain isn't very convenient to GaTech. I would scratch it off your list. About a 20 min commute without traffic.

If you have a 340k price tag for a condo, and don't mind a little travel, I would look at something close to Piedmont Park. Maybe a mid-rise.

340 will buy you a lot of condo if you can get away from the new construction that you're looking at.

Check out the 2bd on the market in 805 Peachtree. Cool building.

Or the 2bd on the market in 905 Juniper...unit 502 (awesome building ...HOA covers high speed internet and gas). Unit 402 (directly underneath, same unit) just sold for $330k and they are asking $399k for 502. I know they may have a good bit of wiggle room.

[kranjan]

Thanks a lot for your inputs..It was really beneficial for me. I would stick to the mid-town area now.